INTRODUCTION TO TRAFFIC EXCHANGES
I assume most of the people reading this are quite familiar with using traffic exchanges and are just reading this guide to see what new things they can learn. But if you have never used a traffic exchange before or you know very little about them, then this section is for you. I will take you through the basics of using traffic exchanges so you will become more comfortable with using them.
WHAT IS A TRAFFIC EXCHANGE?
A traffic exchange is an online promotional system which displays your website to other people in exchange for you viewing their websites. The term “traffic” refers to the people who are viewing your website. So you are exchanging website views with other people – hence the name “Traffic Exchanges”.
Traffic exchanges are also known as Hit Exchanges. When your website is viewed by someone it is known as a HIT in traffic exchange terms.
Before your website can be displayed you will need to earn or purchase credits. Each time you view another member’s website you earn a credit. When a member views your website you spend a credit.
SURFING SESSIONS
The term used for viewing one website after another is Surfing. All members’ websites are placed in a giant rotator and displayed one after the other - as long as they have credits assigned to them. Each website will be displayed for a set time period of 5-30 seconds (depending on the exchange) then the exchange will wait for you to click something on the screen before it moves to the next website in the rotator. Just like a slideshow. The person surfing the websites is known as a Surfer.
Once the click has been registered, the exchange will award a credit to you. It will then display the next website in its rotator for the set time and wait for you to click again. The time you spend surfing a number of websites on the exchange is called a Surfing Session.
There is no limit to the amount of credits you can earn or how many sites you can surf. But it is recommended to set a regular surfing session of around 1-2 hours a day.
SURFBAR
The Surf bar is the section of the screen where you click on something to earn credits. This would usually involve clicking on a matching picture or a number. The screenshot below shows the Surf bar from Hit Safari – one of the most popular exchanges there is.
Hit Safari expects you to click on the matching picture, which is the parrot in this case. The “0” in the bottom right hand corner is the countdown timer. As you can see, the timer has reached “0” and Hit Safari is waiting the surfer to click the parrot in order to proceed to the next website.
Notice that it says I have earned 0.5 credits? This is because Hit Safari offers a 2:1 Surf Ratio for free members. I will cover Surf Ratios in lesson three.
Here is a screenshot of Hit Safari in action.
So we have the Surf bar and the Surfing Frame (display window) where the websites appear in rotation.
In the Surf bar area you will see Banner and Text Link ads. This is another feature of exchanges which I will cover later on in lesson two.
Here is another example of a surf bar that asks the surfer to choose a number in order to continue.
AUTO-SURF AND MANUAL SURF
There are two types of exchange: Auto-Surf and Manual-Surf. Auto-Surf involves displaying websites as a slideshow with no work on your part while Manual-Surf requires you to click something on the screen in order to proceed.
The problem with Auto-Surf is because it displays websites automatically one after the other with no action required, it means people tend not to look at the screen and therefore they don’t see your website. For this reason most exchanges are Manual-Surf ones.
FREE AND PAID EXCHANGES
Most exchanges offer free membership while some require a one-off fee. The benefit of paying for a membership is that you know that the other members have paid as well. The debate on this is that people who are members of Paid Exchanges don’t mind spending their money and are most likely to purchase something from you. It is true that a lot of people are just looking for freebies on the exchanges so a Paid Exchange might be of benefit. Then again there are many more free exchanges than paid ones.